Who invented satellite internet

Viasat had bigger aspirations for the network, though, with plans already in the works to launch ViaSat-1 — a satellite with vastly more capacity than anything else in space. As ViaSat-1 disrupted high-priced low-capacity model by showering North America in bandwidth, Viasat doubled down on the technology with the service launch of ViaSat-2 in This satellite has 7 times the geographic coverage and nearly double the capacity of its predecessor.

It covers most of the U. The additional coverage and capacity also opens new markets and opportunities. In Mexico, for example, the ViaSat-2 satellite powers a newer model of delivering broadband to unserved and underserved areas.

The Community Wi-Fi service allows residents in areas to access the internet via a shared signal, with the satellite antenna and Wi-Fi equipment placed in a central location like a store. This kind of model, which helps connect the unconnected while also being viable from a business standpoint, is part of the reason Viasat was added to the Fortune Change the World list. ViaSat How just three high-capacity satellites in geostationary orbit can cover the earth. In , Viasat plans to launch the first of three new satellites with even higher capacity.

Also strategically placed in geostationary orbits — the ViaSat-3 constellation will be able to beam bandwidth to virtually anywhere on the globe. With this constellation, Viasat aims to be the first global internet service provider. For capacity, each of the ViaSat-3 satellites is expected to deliver more than 1, gigabits per second — 1 terabit or more. This represents an enormous jump in broadband capacity layered atop worldwide coverage. It will go a long way toward helping connect the billions of people still unconnected while opening up additional markets and opportunities on a tremendous scale.

Thinking back to Arthur C. Oct 07 Alex Miller. A radical idea Until , the idea of sending radio messages into space and around the world was the stuff of science fiction. The military goes into orbit While commercial firms chased space for telephone and TV, the U. In , there are two main ways companies deliver satellite broadband. The key difference between them is how high the satellites orbit. Then there are low-Earth orbit constellations, which are made up of hundreds, if not thousands, of smaller satellites that orbit between and 1, miles above Earth.

Geosynchronous satellites are the more mature, more proven technology. Viasat and a company called Hughes, which is the former parent company of DirecTV, have been around for decades. Viasat and Hughes are also the two companies that most likely offer satellite broadband in remote parts of the US right now. Or, you can sign up for geosynchronous satellite broadband through Viasat or Hughes and get speeds comparable to basic broadband: about 25 megabits per second.

Though they are dependable, these geosynchronous satellite systems have some issues. The main one is latency. Just think about remote TV news correspondents who have to wait half a beat between when the anchor in the studio asks the question and when they hear it in their earpiece, as the signal travels up to a communications satellite and then back down to the surface.

Low-Earth orbit constellations, like the ones SpaceX and Amazon are building, promise to solve the latency problem. The latency question is a big deal to the FCC and its decision to hand out billions of dollars in subsidies, by the way.

The agency says it will prioritize networks that offer low latency when giving out funding. Still, there are other unanswered questions about just how fast and dependable newly designed low-Earth orbit constellations will be. Unlike geosynchronous satellites, which are fixed above one spot, low-Earth orbit satellites circle the planet every 90 to minutes. These constellations are also made up of thousands of relatively small satellites — Starlink satellites weigh less than pounds — which means they require multiple launches, which are expensive.

So at the very least, there will be an alternative option that those rural users can take advantage of. Many parts of the United States, for instance, have access to slower DSL connections thanks to telephone lines, but because upgrading that infrastructure is so expensive, the telecom companies that serve those areas often have little incentive to do so. That leaves residents depending on a mix of poor wired connections and often spotty cellular networks.

New technology like 5G could ostensibly bring faster cellular speeds to remote areas, but again, building that infrastructure takes time and money. Satellite broadband, meanwhile, can beam fast, reliable, and potentially affordable internet access down to nearly anywhere on Earth.

Both geosynchronous and low-Earth orbit satellite broadband systems have pros and cons. The former is already viable, albeit not perfect. The latter holds promise, albeit unfulfilled.

But to reach that goal of connecting more people, it will all come down to money. The key to remember is that once the satellite system is configured by the installer, satellite service acts nearly identically as any other ISP and may be configured as such.

The slight difference of satellite service is described here. There is a location in space where you can place a satellite in orbit so that from the ground, the satellite appears stationary.

What is happening is that the satellite is actually orbiting the Earth at the same speed the Earth is rotating. The satellite makes a complete orbit around the Earth in 24 hours, or exactly one day. Longitude refers to those imaginary long lines that travel down the Earth for global mapping. There are degrees of longitude readings for Earth. If you know the longitude of a satellite, you knows where the satellite is located in the sky because all geostationary satellites are located above the equator or zero latitude.

To further confuse things, longitude is divided into two halves: western and eastern hemispheres. A satellite orbiting over Malaysia that services Asia and Australia may have the orbital slot of Satellite longitudes help installers locate where to point a satellite dish.

They also help in finding obstacles from an installation location and the satellite. Any obstacle such as a tree or mountain will interfere with a satellite signal. It is important that there are no obstacles between the installation location of the satellite dish and the orbiting satellite. Fortunately, finding if there is clear line of sight is is simplified by using a look angle calculator. Starship is a project aimed at going to Mars. All together, SpaceX had 21 successful launches in and intends to beat that in But that service is still a ways off because it will take a while to get enough satellites in place for a viable network.

In other SpaceX news, the company also plans to launch satellites for other companies too, including 75 for competitors Iridium. Iridium partnered with SpaceX to literally get the project off the ground. Iridium now offers Certus , a satellite communications service for businesses and government enterprises, particularly on the ocean. It plans to add services for aviation by the end of Telesat , the largest satellite internet provider in Canada, is one such company.

Telesat successfully launched a test LEO satellite in January Telesat will also lean on Loon to construct its network operating system. OneWeb is a joint effort to bring internet access to the world.

OneWeb manufactures its own satellites and plans to launch LEO satellites by the end of The international aerospace company, Arianespace, will launch the first OneWeb satellites in In the summer of , Facebook revealed it was working on an internet satellite called Athena and refocusing its Aquila project on developing software.

The Athena satellite is expected to launch in , but Facebook hasn't released further details to the public yet. Loon , started by Google and now run by parent company Alphabet, is slightly different from the other companies listed here. Instead of an orbiting network in space, Loon uses weather balloons to float transmitters high in the atmosphere, essentially creating a floating network in the sky.

Despite many of these efforts being collaborative, the billionaires leading the charge would no doubt like some bragging rights.